Conveying apparatus



June 1932- F. w. BROOKE ET Al. 1,861,489

CONVEYING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 17, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet l k WT | 1 I l I 1 I l I l l l I 1 l ii k INVENTORS June 7, 1932. F w BROOKE ET AL CONVEYING APPARATUS I Filed Feb. 17, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS yaw or. (Lhma J1me 1932- F. w. BROOKE ET AL 1,361,489

CONVEYING APPARATUS Filed Feb 17, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS awk/Mm Patented June 7, 1932 UNITED srarss PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK W. BROOKE AND WILLIAM H. GOSGROVE, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA, AS- SIGN OBS T WILLIAM SWINDELL AND BROTHERS, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYL- VANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA CONVEYING APPARATUS Application filed February 17, 1930. Serial No. 429,042.

, from which extends a continuous web which connects the hub to the outer flange or rim which supports the material being conveyed through the furnace. Sometimes the webs of the discs are provided with holes, in order I to decrease the weight. These discs are connected to the rolls in various ways, usually by keys.

In sheet normalizing furnaces, it is general practice to provide each roll with from eight to ten discs spaced axially thereof. Each of these discs weighs approximately thirty pounds, so that the total weight of the discs on each roll is from two hundred and forty pounds to three hundred pounds. When normalizing sheets seventy-two inches wide and twenty V. G. thick, the Weight of the sheet per roll equals about twelve pounds, and when sheets seventy-two inches wide and sixteen W. G. thick are being carried by the rolls, the weight of the sheet per roll is about twenty pounds. It will thus be seen that the weight of the discs is many times greater than the weight of the sheet being carried thereby, and that any arrangement which will reduce the weight of the discs will result not only in decreased cost, due to the fact that less material is used in the discs, but it also reduces the cost of the rolls themselves which can be'made lighter if they have less weight to carry. Our invention provides an arrangement in which the weight of the elements which carry the sheet material is only about one-third of the weight of the discs ordinarily employed.

Sheet normalizing furnaces ordinarily are operated at temperatures of about 1900 F., and it is accordingly necessary to make the conveying apparatus out of expensive re-.

fractory material. A nickel chromium alloy is generally used for this purpose.

One of the disadvantages of these nickel chromium alloys is their tendency toward permanent growth. When this occurs it sets up severe strains between the roll and the discs, which maybe .suflicient to rupture one or the other and cause a serious break-down in the furnace. According to our invention, we provide a resilient connection betweenthe surface which supports the sheet material and the rolls, and in this manner preventsetting up undue strains which might otherwise result from the permanent growth of the roll. These elements which connect the rim and roll generally take the form of spiders which can either be rolled or cast. They'are made separate and independently of the material supporting surface or rim, so thatv there is no difficulty in rolling or casting them. A good deal of difliculty has been experienced in casting discs of the type now generally used for conveying material through furnaces. Thesediscs have a heavy hub, and a heavy rim or flange which supports the material being conveyed through the furnace, and the rim and hub are connected by a relatively thin web. The difference in section of the rim and hub and web make it very difiicult to produce a-casting which is free from shrinks. This difficulty is enhanced when it is attempted to cast the discs out of refractory alloy, such as a nickel chromium alloy. This is due to the fact that it is very diflicult to get two streams of this metal to knit together. This property of nickel chromium alloys has a tendency to produce seams and other defects in the discs. All these disadvantages are overcome in our invention, because of the fact that the rim which supports the material being conveyed through the furnace, and the spider, which connects the rim to the roll, are made sepa rately and each has a substantially uniform cross section.

In the accompanying drawings which i1- lustrate several preferred embodiments of our invention,

Figure'l is a plan view of a roll having several material conveying elements carried thereby,

Figure 2 is a section on the line II--II of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a section on the line III-III of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a plan view of a portion of a conveying roll with the material supporting elements removed, 7

Figure 5 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a modified form of the invention, in which a non-metallic refractory rim is employed for supporting the material conveyed through the furnace,

Figure 6 is a sect on on the line VIVI of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is a section on the line VIIVII' of Figure 6,

Figure 8 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2 but illustrating a modification in which the roll carries a split ring,

Figure 9 is a section on the line IX-IX of Figure 8, and

Figure 10 is a view similar to Figure 2, but illustrating another embodiment in which three separate spiders are employed for connecting the rim and roll.

Referring more particularly to Figures 1 I to 4 of the accompanying drawings, there is shown a roll 2 having a plurality of rims 3 connected thereto, which convey the material through the heat-treating furnace. The roll 2 and rims 8 carried thereby are rotated through a sprocket wheel 4 by any desired means, not shown. The rims 3 are spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, They are spaced radially of the roll by spiders 6, as shown in detail in Figure 2. The roll 2 is provided with a plurality of lugs 7 spaced circumferentially thereof. It is also provided with a plurality of lugs 7 spaced circum ferentially of the roll, and also axially of the roll in alinement with the lugs 7, in order to provide a groove 8 between each of the lugs 7 and 7 i The rim 8 has a plurality of lugs 10 spaced circumferentially of the rim and extending radially inward toward the axis of the roll. It also has a. plurality of lugs 10 (see Figure 3) spaced circumferentially of the rim and axially of the roll in alinement with the lugs 10, in order to provide grooves 11 between each pair of lugs 10 and 10.

The spider 6 is formed, as shown in Figure 2. It may be rolled, cast or otherwise shaped. The roll 2, the rim 3 and the spider 6 are made of a refractory alloy such as a nickel chromium alloy adapted to withstand high temperatures. The sheet supporting rims 3 and the spiders 6 are connected to the roll by first placing the spider in the position indicated by the dotted lines in Figure 2. The spider is then rotated clockwise, as indi cated by the arrows in this figure, to bring the upper horizontal portion 15 of the spider between the lugs 10 and 10, and the lower horizontal portion 16 of the spider between the lugs 7 and 7 on the roll 2. The spider is then welded to the rim 3 and roll 2, as indicated by the numeral 17. This arrangement provides a resilient connection between the rim and roll which prevents undue strains being set up on contraction and expansion or Referring to Figure 10, in which corre-' sponding parts have been indicated by the same reference numerals with the letter a sufiixed thereto, the construction is generally similar to that shown in Figure 2, except that a plurality of separate spiders 6a are employed in place of the single spider 6, shown in Figure 2. As illustrated in Figure 10, three of these spiders are employed. A greater or lesser number may be used if desired.

In Figures 8 and 9, there is illustrated an embodiment in which a split ring 20 is shown as carried by the roll 20. The ring is split, as indicated by the reference numeral 21. The split ring 20 is provided with lugs and 7'0, corresponding to the lugs 7 and 7 shown in Figure 4. The rim 30 has lugs 10c and 10'0 corresponding to the lugs 10 and 10 shown in Figure 4. The rim 30 is connected to the lugs on the rim and split ring 20 by welding, as indicated at 170. The provision of the split ring 20 additionally insures that undue stresses which might tend to rupture the connectionbetween the spider and rim or roll, will not be set up. The spider 6c is illustrated in Figure 9 as being round in cross section and as having been produced by a rolling operation. The spiders may either be cast or rolled as desired, either in this embodiment or in any of the other embodiments according to the particular conditions to which they will be subjected when in use. When the gases have a high sulphur contents, it is preferred to use a spider which has been cast, rather than rolled, as it has been found that cast spiders will withstand the action of these gases to a greater extent than rolled sections without corroding.

Where sheets are conveyed through a normalizing furnace while supported on metallic discs or rims, the discs sometimes accumulate a scale from the oxide which may form onthe sheets under certain conditions. This oxide adheres sufficiently strongly to the discs to make small scratches on the sheets which may cause these sheets to be rejected.

In order to prevent the adherence of scale on the elements which support the sheet, we may make the supporting rims out of a nonmetallic refractory inert material, such as high-grade fire clay, mullite, or high temperature porcelains. Figures 5, 6 and 7 illustrate one embodiment in which such a non-metallic refractory rim is provided for supporting the sheets while being conveyed through the furnace. The rim 3d is made out of non-metallic refractory material of the character referred to. The spider 6d and the roll 2d are made out of a refractory metal or alloy such as a nickel chromium alloy. The rim 3d is provided with radially extending circumferentially spaced projections 30, which are clove-tailed in cross section, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. In addition to being dove-tailed in shape, these projections vary in cross section from one end to the other to form a wedge. As shown in Figure 7, the left hand end 31 of the projection is smaller in diameter than the right hand end 32. The right hand end of the projection 30 has flanges 33 extending axially of the roll for a purpose hereinafter described. The spider 6d has two legs 34 and 35 which are seated between lugs 7 d and 7d on the roll. The legs 34 and 35 are joined together by a horizontally extending web 36. The two outer ends 38 of the legs are flanged so that with the web 36 they form a recess 37, which corresponds in shape to the dovetailed projection 30 on the rim 3d. The parts are assembled by placing the spider 6d in a position corresponding to the dotted line position of the spider 6, as shown in Figure 2. The spider is then rotated until the parts assume the position indicated in Figure 5, and the right hand end of the portions 38 contact with the flanges 33. A cotter pin 39 is then passed through corresponding openings in the spider 6d and projection 30 to hold the parts in place. Since the rim is made of a non-metallic refractory material, welding is not employed to hold the parts in place.

The employment of resilient metallic spiders for connecting non-metallic refractory rims to metallic rolls results in a structure in which the unequal expansion and contraction of the roll and the rim is compensated by the resilient character of the spider. This enables us to utilize a supporting surface for the sheets which will not accumulate scale and accordingly will not mar the sheet, and in which the unequal expansion and contraction of the roll and rim are compensated by the resilient spider 6d. The spiders or the arms which connect the material supporting rims to the roll may be cast, rolled or otherwise shaped, as desired, whether a metallic or non-metallic material supporting rim is employed. The split ring 20 shown in Figure 8 may be employed with any of the other forms of the invention, if it is desired to increase the resiliency of the connection between the roll and rim.

roll, other lugs spaced circumferentially of the rim, and out of radial alinement with the first-mentioned lugs, and a resilient spider connected to said first-mentioned lugs and said other lugs.

2. Apparatus for conveying sheets through a heat-treating furnace, which comprises a roll, at least three narrow sheet-supporting refractory rims spaced axially of the roll, and radially thereof, a plurality of pairs of lugs spaced circumferentially of the roll, the

lugs of each pair being spaced axially of the roll to provide a groove therebetween, and a resilient spider in the grooves and connected to the lugs and supporting the rim.

3. Conveying apparatus comprising a roll, a plurality of material supporting rims spaced axially of the roll, and radiallythereof, a plurality of pairs of lugs spaced circumferentially of the rim, the lugs of each pair being spaced axially of the roll to provide a groove therebetween, and a resilient spider in the grooves and connected to the lugs, the spider being supported by the roll.

4:. Conveying apparatus comprising a roll,

a plurality of material supporting rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, a plurality of pairs of lugs spaced circumferentially of the roll, the lugs of each pair being spaced axially of the roll to provide a groove therebetween, a plurality of pairs of lugs spaced circumferentially of the rim, said last-mentioned lugs of each pair being spaced axially of the roll to provide a groove therebetween, the pairs of lugs on the roll being out of radial alinement with the pairs of lugs of the rim, and a resilient spider in the grooves between the pairs of lugs.

5. Conveying apparatus comprising a roll, a plurality of narrow non-metallic refractory rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, and a resilient refractory metallic spider connecting each rim to the roll.

6. Conveying apparatus comprising a metallic roll, a plurality of non-metallic refractory rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, and resilient spiders between the roll and rims, the spiders and rim having projection and recess engagement.

7. Conveying apparatus comprising a metallic roll, a plurality of non-metallic refractory rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, the rims having radially extending projections spaced circumferentially thereof, and resilient spiders connecting the rims and roll, the spiders being provided with recesses corresponding to the projections on the rim.

8. Conveying apparatus comprising a metallic roll, a plurality of non-metallic refractory rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, the rims having radially extending dove-tailed projections spaced circumferentially thereof, and resilient spiders connecting the rims and roll, the spiders being provided With recesses corresponding to the projections on the rim.

9. Conveying apparatus comprising a me tallic roll, a plurality of non-metallic re- 7 -fraotory rims spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, the rims having radially extending dove-tailed projections spaced circumferentially thereof each projection varying in cross section from one end to the other,

and resilient spiders connecting the rims and roll, the spiders being provided Wth recesses corresponding to the projections on the rim. 10. Conveying apparatus comprising a roll,

a plurality of material supporting IlIl'lS spaced axially of the roll and radially thereof, split rings carried by the roll and spaced axially thereof in substantially radial alinement With the rims, and resilient spiders connecting the rims and split rings.

In testimony whereof We have hereunto set our hands.

FRANK W. BROOKE. W. H. COSGROVE. 

